okay, I am shocked. PT has almost disappeared from his basic!? Once a week. Didn't have time for PT, because of having to march to the range? He's got his platoon and company squared away really good, but what kind of basic is it that almost stops doing PT?

I don't have a photographic memory, but I sure don't remember once a week PT, ours was everyday except maybe Sat. and Sunday.

And all day Sunday off. He's not gonna get to 270 on his PT test, most likely, because of a lack of reps on the run.

Of course, maybe it's because his company is in such great shape? It's possible, I do remember seeing the company in front of us, in late May. this was a small group of men, maybe 80-100 marching around about a week before their basic ended, they looked sharp, everybody was marching perfectly, nobody looked out-of-shape at all. Perfectly squared away group.

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I really enjoy reading this guys blog. Sometimes I even look forward to it. It gives me a little something to look forward to, or not in some cases, when I ship in 12 days. Nice work on his part and his wifes part on keeping the blog up.

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When i really enjoy reading his blog i can't compute how kind of "low drag" his BCT is...i mean movies, first MRE in week 6...?...common...what in the **** is this? Boy Scouts camp?
Anyhow, guy is doing a good job and it looks like he is having tons of fun.

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I'm thinking his basic is so easy in part because his company is smaller, and maybe mostly everyone showed up in good shape? iow, if a company of only 80 did a 2nd diagnostic pt test 3 weeks in and everybody passed, why waste time doing PT everyday? Except for the usual immaturity problems, sounds like it's probably one of the smoothest classes any of us have ever heard of.

One other thing, sounds like his lead DS is female, I wonder if that means she's more flexible with the training schedule than a man would be. The trainees might even listen to her better the first time also, because the immature guys are used to having female teachers in high school.

just a thought.

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congratulations on your award! Sounds like you're on your way home about now. will be interesting to see what additional info he has. It does look like they've done away with long road marches, opting for more FTXs instead. This is not your father's basic training, for sure!

I guess my biggest question is how did it feel being part of a fairly small platoon and company, and just how many soldiers actually did graduate?

I was in a group so large, the D. Sargent didn't even know my name until about week 6.

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Thanks for your support and comments. I've still got a few more posts to make about BCT on things like Vic Forge, family day, graduation, etc. I'll be making those in the next few days as well as adding some pics to the blog.

I'm going to go ahead and answer some questions for you guys too.

Yes, my BCT experience was not typical. The size of our company (about 75 soldiers) and our battalion (about 400) was very small compared to the typical size. They told us most companies had about 240 soldiers per cycle, so the battalion would have had about 1400 graduating. This meant several things were different for us. Training that would normally take a company all day to complete, such as ranges, only took us a few hours so we ended up with a lot more down time than normal. We usually spent this extra time cleaning our weapons or the barracks. Our budget was also smaller than normal. This is why we had to cut out some things. MRE's would be a good example. MRE's are the most expensive meals in BCT, so we only ate them for lunch during our 3 day FTX. We even cut them out of Vic Forge and had Hot A's instead.

Our DS's had a huge impact on my experience. Just from talking to soldiers in other companies, I can tell you that my DS's were more laid back than most. As long as we were doing the right thing, they did ride us too hard. They were much more concerned with training us than playing mind games, smoking us for no reason, etc. This is why my company did so much better at BRM for example. We had 3 Hawkeyes, no other company had any. We had 30 qualify as experts, the next closest company had 7.

If you have any other questions, just ask, and keep checking my blog for updates.

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I really like the way they ended your training with a comprehensive exercise followed by a road march. They really know how to do things. And then to be able to eat a steak breakfast in peace, that must have been unbelievable. obviously it's been too long, but I sure don't remember any practicing for graduation. One thing I do remember was graduating in the heat, with the medic trucks in the background for anybody who would pass out. I think they made us stand at parade rest for about 2 hours during the grad. ceremony. That was the last hard thing we had to do in basic. The DSargents warned us about locking our knees, and we were determined to not fall out. I don't think any of us did, but it was intimidating seeing those medic trucks.

I'm guessing you drove home? How strange was it to do something you wanted to do for a change?

I really enjoyed reading this blog of yours, and I hope you keep it going when you go to OCS. Are you doing the traditional 18 month OCS, or are you doing Accelerated?

Thanks for your support and comments. I've still got a few more posts to make about BCT on things like Vic Forge, family day, graduation, etc. I'll be making those in the next few days as well as adding some pics to the blog.

I'm going to go ahead and answer some questions for you guys too.

Yes, my BCT experience was not typical. The size of our company (about 75 soldiers) and our battalion (about 400) was very small compared to the typical size. They told us most companies had about 240 soldiers per cycle, so the battalion would have had about 1400 graduating. This meant several things were different for us. Training that would normally take a company all day to complete, such as ranges, only took us a few hours so we ended up with a lot more down time than normal. We usually spent this extra time cleaning our weapons or the barracks. Our budget was also smaller than normal. This is why we had to cut out some things. MRE's would be a good example. MRE's are the most expensive meals in BCT, so we only ate them for lunch during our 3 day FTX. We even cut them out of Vic Forge and had Hot A's instead.

Our DS's had a huge impact on my experience. Just from talking to soldiers in other companies, I can tell you that my DS's were more laid back than most. As long as we were doing the right thing, they did ride us too hard. They were much more concerned with training us than playing mind games, smoking us for no reason, etc. This is why my company did so much better at BRM for example. We had 3 Hawkeyes, no other company had any. We had 30 qualify as experts, the next closest company had 7.

If you have any other questions, just ask, and keep checking my blog for updates.

Very excellent information about today's IET. I will probably beg to differ pertaining to the total and logistical cost of MREs. Eating at a DFAC will cost more than an MRE. That is why when I went on TDY and wanted to eat at the DFAC; I will get simply told - "just eat MREs to save money". Think about the amount of time and personnel utilized to prep, cook, serve and layout an abundance of chow at the dining facility compared to just handing out bags of MREs. If monetary budgeting is an issue; it will affect every training company and cycle; not just yours. Budgeting will affect all of TRADOC and not just managed by the IET commanders.

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hey sherfield2002, Its great that you're back home and i completely encourage you to spend as much time w/ family and friends as possible, but you got a looot of dedicated readers on your BCT blog! i followed your whole journey and am anxiously awaiting more updates =) dont let your blog die!! I'm checking it like 3 times a day praying for something new! hehehe! thank you sir!